Jemele Hill Announces Departure from ESPN After 12 Years

Jemele Hill announced Friday that she is leaving ESPN after 12 years with the company.

Hill released a statement on Twitter and wrote that Friday is officially her last day at ESPN:

Jemele Hill @jemelehill

Over the last several weeks, there have been a lot of rumors about my job status. Today is my last day at ESPN.
More from me on closing one of the most special chapters in my life: https://t.co/jReaH5sWhW

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported in August that Hill was leaving ESPN after a buyout of her $2.5 million per year contract.

Hill joined ESPN as a columnist in 2006 before making appearances on several television shows.

In 2013, Hill began hosting Numbers Never Lie with Michael Smith, and the name of the show was later changed to His & Hers.

That ran through 2017 until Hill and Smith were chosen to co-anchor the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter.

Hill and Smith lasted only one year as a team on SportsCenter before ESPN made changes to the lineup in February.

In her farewell statement, Hill mentioned the pride she took in her work with Smith, leading Smith to issue the following reply:

Michael Smith @michaelsmith

@jemelehill Love you, Sis. https://t.co/xg39eueXx6

The 42-year-old Hill came under fire in September 2017 when she posted several tweets that were critical of President Donald Trump.

In one tweet, Hill called Trump a "white supremacist."

Jemele Hill @jemelehill

@DonnyParlock @demillz84 @JayG34 Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.

ESPNcondemnedthe tweets, and later suspended Hill for separate tweets one month later.

Thetwo-week suspensioncame after Hill tweeted about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' stance against protesting during the national anthem:

According to Marchand, ESPN wanted to part ways with Hill due to its desire to remove itself from political discussion.

After leaving her role with SportsCenter, Hill spent time writing for ESPN's The Undefeated until her departure.